The Captains of Thor: What Really Caused the Loss of the SS El Faro in Hurricane Joaquin

by Robert R. Frump

Was it the captain's fault, as many said? Or did the company, the Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping all have a hand on the helm of the SS El Faro as she steered too close to Hurricane Joaquin? This is an examination of a tragedy that has been well-researched and investigated — heroically so at times — by the United States Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. Three very well-done books have been published. All of these efforts produced detailed recommendations and observations and all are publicly available. I commend them to you. My effort touches on the broad sweep and events of the tragedy and investigation, but if you want the detailed story of the final voyage of the ship, you’re better off with the other books. My main goal here is to show how the SS El Faro fit into a larger system and culture — one that I have been covering off and on as a journalist and author for 38 years. It’s this system, I feel, that will result in another SS El Faro someday unless it is reformed. Another note on style. My preference in non-fiction is “narrative.” In other words, whenever I can, I tell a story and show what is happening; I prefer that to “telling” the reader, because I think “showing” is more readily absorbed. Humans learn through stories. Story telling rather than a lecture better illustrates the emotions at play here, as well as the moods, culture and vibe of the ship and the industry. This does not mean I take a pure poetic license. The dialogue quoted here is real, not made up. The material is factual.

151 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2018

Reviews

[Richard McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Captains of Thor: What Really Caused the Loss of the SS El Faro in Hurricane Joaquin by Robert Frump looks into every detail including centuries of tradition and the unseen war that goes on between commerce, politics, the law, and the price the Captains of Thor pay for dropping the Hammer of Thor! This book isn't just about the facts and figures about the loss of the SS El Faro, but it encompasses the whole industry as well as the agencies required to enforce the safety regulations and perform safety inspections on the ships in the commerce trade. It's written as a story with the tragic ending we know too well. Being a retired Merchant Marine Master myself, I can testify to everything Mr. Frump states, implies, and concludes in this book. In reality, everything is a compromise, and it seems that all too often safety of the ships and crews fall on the short side of the compromising scale. Mr. Frump states it well, "No World Elsewhere Works This Way!"

[Matt Caris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but critical companion read to "Into the Raging Storm" or any of the other books about the El Faro. Frump describes the real underlying dynamics that drove decision-making by company management and the captain which in turn caused the sinking. Frump knows the industry extremely well - which the other authors, as good as their books are, do not - and as a result, while his writing may lack some of the astonished incredulity of the other works, his analysis is deeper and more insightful. As a result, this book is no less infuriating (and probably even more depressing). If you want to know what happened to the El Faro, read the other works, but if you want to know why, read this.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This investigative style of how this ship sank kept me thinking a long time about the shipping industry and all its flaws long after I finished the book.